Spherical water fountain

ABSTRACT

A water fountain comprising a pedestal supporting a spherical head thereon having spaced ports along the surface thereof respectively adapted to have a valve-controlled stream of water discharge therefrom. Water issuing from the ports falls downwardly onto the convex spherical surface of the head and is carried thereby into a bowl or receiver located beneath the head and within the pedestal. Substantially all of the functional components of the fountain are concealed within the hollow spherical head and hollow pedestal so as to minimize vandalism of such components and misuse of the fountain.

United-States Patent b m, 30 y,

FOREIGN PATENTS 579,107 6/1933 Germany Primary ExaminerM. Henson Wood, Jr.

Assistant Examiner-Michael Y. Mar AttorneyGardner & Zimmerman ABSTRACT: A water fountain comprising a pedestal supporting a spherical head thereon having spaced ports along the surface thereof respectively adapted to have a valve-controlled stream of water discharge therefrom. Water issuing from the ports falls downwardly onto the convex spherical surface of the head and is carried thereby into a bowl or receiver loca}ed beneath the head and within the pedestal. Substan tially all of the functional components of the fountain are con cealed within the hollow spherical head and hollow pedestal so as to minimize vandalism of such components and misuse of the fountain.

Patented May 11, 1971 I 3,578,247

2 SheetS Sheet 1 INVENTOR. AMI/v CZ (dz/6H7 TTOINI 71$ SPHERICAL WATER FOUNTAIN This invention relates to a water fountain and, more particularly, to a valve-controlled drinking fountain of the type used in locations generally available to the public.

Machines, mechanisms and other devices located in rooms and areas open to the general public are subject to damage, both intentional and unintentional, from vandalism and misuse especially when children constitute a segment of the public to which such devices are available. Although intentional destruction of a device is difficult to prevent, the

likelihood of damage thereto can be considerably minimized by making the same as tamperproof as practicable so that the possibility of misuse and disassembly, and general availability of the working parts are all minimized. ln view of this, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved drinking fountain in which these damage-minimizing features are present.

A further object, among others, is to provide an improved drinking fountain that is substantially tamperproof with the valves, nozzle structures, waste receiver, conduits, and substantially all of the other functional components and elements thereof being concealed and therefore generally inaccessible and unavailable except to authorized personnel; that is easy to assemble and disassemble by such personnel; that is structurally simple and esthetically pleasing; and that utilizes surface phenomena" of liquids, and especially the forces of adhesion defined between dissimilar materials. to carry overflow or excess water issuing from the nozzle structure of the fountain to a receiver underlying the three-dimensional curvilinear surface of the head thereof. 7

ln a particular embodiment of the invention, the fountain comprises an upwardly extending hollow pedestal having a hollow curvilinear geometric solid defining a head supported thereby at its upper end. ln a more particular reference, the hollow head is generally spherical and is spaced slightly from the upper edge of the pedestal, except at angularly spaced points of support therebetween, to define a passageway through which water adhering to the surface of the sphere is carried downwardly and inwardly therealong toward a bowl or receiver concealed within the interior of the hollow pedestal. Nozzle structure located within the interior of the hollow head is operative under the control of a valve to provide a water stream discharging through a port or opening in the surface of the sphere adjacent the top thereof, Such water stream falls downwardly onto the surface of the sphere, and the forces of adhesion operative between the water and spherical surface cause the water to follow the outer convex surface of the sphere toward the lower inner portion thereof whereat the water drops into the underlying receiver.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention, especially as concerns particular features and characteristics thereof, will become evident as the specification proceeds to a detailed description of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drinking fountain embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, broken vertical sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, broken vertical sectional view similar to that of FlG. 2 but taken along the line 3-3 of HO. 1.

The drinking fountain illustrated in the drawings includes a base or pedestal and a head 11 supported by the pedestal at the upper end thereof. As will be described in detail herein after, a stream of water for drinking is adapted to discharge through each of the ports or openings 12a and 12!) (as shown in H0. 2) in the surface of the head H, and such streams are controlled by valve assemblies 13a and 13b positioned along the head ll, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The openings 12a and 12b lie along a common plane through the center of the head 11, as do the valve structures Ba and [3b, and the two planes in which the openings 12 and valve structures 13 respectively reside are oriented at right angles with respect to each other and intersect along the vertical axis of the fountain through the head 11 thereofv The pedestal 10 is vertically disposed andit is a hollow tubular component having a substantially cylindrical configuration and defining a -chamber 14 within the hollow interior thereof. At its lower end, the pedestal is: adapted to be mounted upon a base (not shown) which may take any conventional form and in certain instances can be the floor of a room space. Mounted within the hollow interior .14 of the pedestal 10 is a bowl or receiver 15 having a large open upper end and a restricted lower end provided with a discharge opening 16 thereat through which water is carried to waste via a conduit 17 threadedly connected with the receiver 15 by means of a collar 18 at the lower end thereof. The waste conduit 17 is adapted to be connected in a conventional manner to a disposal system (not shown). g

The receiver 15 has a slightly smaller outer diameter at its upper end than the inner diameter of the pedestal 10 to define a space therebetween, and the receiver is located a spaced distance below the upper end of the pedestal, as is evident in H68. 2 and 3. Extending upwardly through the chamber 14 intermediate the pedestal l0 and receiver 15 is a supply conduit 19 furnishing water for discharge through the aforementioned ports 12a and 12b. The water supply conduit 19 is equipped therealong with connectors (as shown), and may be fixed to the head 11 where it extends therethrough by fitting structure generally denoted with the numeral 20.

Within the hollow interior or chamber 21 of the head 11, the conduit 19 is connected with distribution conduits comprising a secton 22 carrying water to the valve structure 13a and a section 23 carrying water to the valve structure 13b. It will be appreciated that any convenient conduit arrangement may be employed to deliver water to the valve structures 13, and in certain instances a variant form that might be used is one in which the water supply conduit extends upwardly through the waste conduit and receiver 15 and then into the hollow interior 21 of thehead 11.

The head 11 is a hollow curvilinear geometric solid having a three-dimensional curvilinear surface of convex configuration and which, in the particular form shown, is substantially spherical. The openings 12a and 12h are respectively associated with opposite upper quadrants of such a sphere and, in the same sense, the valve structures 13a and 13b are respectively associated with the alternate upper quadrants. The spherical head 11 is provided at two diametrally spaced locations therealong with arcuate support segments 24 and 25 that are stepped (as illustrated in FIG. 3) so as to seat upon the upper edge of the pedestal 10 and provide an inset portion telescoping downwardly thereinto. The supports 24 and 25 space the surface of the head 11 from the upper edge of the pedestal 10 (as shown in FIG. 2), except for the locations of the supports 24 and 25, thereby providing openings or passageways 26a and 26b respectively associated and generally aligned with the openings 12a and 12b and through which water is carried into the receiver 15, as indicated in FIG. 2;

The spherical 'head 11 at the bottom thereof has a large opening 27 overlying the receiver 15 so that any water finding its way into the chamber 21 of the head will flow downwardly through the opening 27 and into the receiver 15. The opening 27 also provides access into the interior of the head for locating various components therein and for connecting the supply lines and associated elements as subsequently described. Advantageously, ascreen 28 which may be copper or aluminum screening, for example, is inserted into the hollow interior 21 of the head 11 through the opening 27 and is supported in overlying relation therewith to prevent sticks and other articlesthat might be pushed through the ports 12a and 12b from entering the receiver 15 and clogging the discharge opening 15 thereof.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, a support or nozzle bracket 29 is fixedly secured by pins or other suitable means to a boss 30 depending from the inner surface of the head 11 at the vertical center thereof. The supply conduit section 23 passes through the nozzle bracket 29 as its center, and the bracket is provided 5 with a pair of outwardly extending legs 30a and 30h that generally underlie the openings 12a and 12b and pass nozzle structures 31a and 31b therethrough which are in the form of tubular conduits respectively aligned with the openings 12a and 12b so that water discharging upwardly from the nozzle structures passes through the openings aligned therewith, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The tubular nozzle structures 31 may terminate along the respectively associated upper surfaces of the bracket legs 30a and 30b so as to make deformation of the nozzles more difficult should vandals project screwdrivers, sticks and similar articles downwardly through the openings 12a and 12b.

The nozzle conduits 31a and 31b are retained in the openings therefor in the bracket legs 30a and 30b by the frictional grip of the surrounding bracket material, and they are respectively connected by fittings 32a and 32b to the discharge or exit sides of 'the respectively associated valve structures 13a and 13b. Evidently then, the discharge of water from the nozzle structures 31a and 31b through the respectively associated ports 12a and 12b is controlled by the valves 13a and 13b. Water is supplied to the valve 130 through a T- fitting 33-one branch of which is connected to the conduit section 22, another branch to the conduit section 23, and the third branch to the inlet of the valve 13a. The valve 13b is supplied with water by the conduit section 23 which is connected to the inlet side of the valve through an L-fitting 34.

The valve structures 13, as is most apparent in FIG. 3 (the valves are omitted in FIG. 2 for purposes of clarity), are recessed into the head 11 so that the depressible control elements of the valves are substantially flush with the outer spherical surface of the head. Any convenient arrangement may be used to provide such positioning and mounting of the valve structures; and in the particular fountain being considered, the outer surface of the head thereof is pressed inwardly to form wells 35a and 35b within which the valve structures recess and to which they may be threaded or otherwise fixedly secured. Accordingly, the outer spherical surface of the head 11 is substantially free of outwardly extending protuberances, as is clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, thereby obviating projections which are readily broken by vandalism or misuse of the fountain.

The components of the fountain may be assembled in any convenient sequence, but in most instances the control valves 13, conduit sections 22 and 23, nozzle bracket 29, and noule structures 31 are mounted as a factory installation.

The receiver 15 and waste conduit 17 are connected at the installation site and, evidently, the pedestal 10 must be secured either directly or indirectly to the supporting surface therefor at such site. Depending upon the manner in which the supports 24 and 25 of the head 11 are afi'rxed to the pedestal 10, the head may be secured thereto at the installation site or as a factory assembly. Any standard arrangement may be used to interconnect the pedestal l and supports 24 and 25 as, for example, adhesives, welding, fasteners, etc. it may be observed that all of the conduits within the head 11 may be flexible plastic tubing, and the section 36 of the supply conduit 19 intermediate the fitting structure 20 and stop valve 37 is ordinarily flexible plastic tubing. in the usual case, the conduits 17 and 19 are copper and the pedestal 10, head 11 and receiver 15 may be formed of any one of a greater variety of materials. By way of example, the pedestal and head 11 may be aluminum and the receiver may be aluminum or plastic. l I

In use of the fountain, water does not ordinarily discharge from the nozzle structure and issue through either of the ports 12a and 12b because the respectively associated valve structures 13a and 13b are normally closed. If one wishes to drink from the fountain, he pushes one or the other of the valves 13 and water then discharges through the associated nozzle structure 31 and port 12 aligned therewith. It will be appreciated that two people can drink from the fountain concurrently from the respective water streams independently flowing from the ports and 12b, and each person controls the discharge of water therethrough. Water that is not consumed and that 75 along passes through the ports 12 falls downwardly onto the outer convex surface of the spherical head and flows downwardly and inwardly therealong through the passageways 26 and into the receiver 15 concealed within the interior of the pedestal 10. The water follows the contour of the spherical head 11 because of the forces of adhesion defined between the outer surface of the head and water flowing therealong, and which forces continue to be sufficiently great to exceed the forces of gravity tending to pull the water downwardly from the surface of the sphere until the water has travelled inwardly through the passageways 26 and into overlying relation with the receiver 15.

in this respect, the primary forces operative upon any minute water droplet falling onto the surface of the head 11 are the forces of cohesion resulting in the surface tension generally causing the droplet to assume the smallest surface area possible for a given volume (namely, spherical), the forces of adhesion causing the droplet to cling to the surface of the head, and the gravitational force acting downwardly on the droplet and thereby tending to dislodge the same from the surface especially along the lower hemisphere thereof. It has been found that the interaction of these forces results in the water following the contour of the head 11 through the passageways 26 for deposition into the receiver 15, and a specific dimensional example of a fountain in which this phenomenum occurs is one in which the spherical head 11 thereof has an outer diameter of 18 inches and the pedestal has an inner diameter of 12 inches and a height of 28 inches- -the overall height of the fountain from the lower end of the pedestal 10 to the uppermost point on the surface of the head 11 being 44 inches, sufficient space being defined between the head and pedestal for the passageways 26 to provide free movement of water therethrough. It has been found that the described functioning of the fountain is enhanced by providing an outer surface along the head that is somewhat hydrophilic as, for example, by coating the surface of an aluminum sphere with a flat paint or by anodizing the same.

Substantially all of the functional components of the fountain are concealed and inaccessible to persons using the fountain, thereby minimizing the likelihood of damage through misuse and vandalism. At the same time, the fountain is esthetically pleasing, having no protuberances interrupting the uniform curvilinear lines thereof. Moreover, it is convenient to use simply requiring one or the other of the control valves 13 to be depressed to cause a stream of water to discharge upwardly and outwardly through the port 12 associated with the valve being manipulated. Further, since there are no projections adjacent the nozzle ports 12, impact-type injury to the teeth and mouths of persons using the fountains are minimized.

While in the foregoing specification an embodiment of the invention has been set forth in considerable detail for purposes of making a complete disclosure thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous changes may be made in such details without departing from the spirit and principles of the invention.

lclaim:

1. A drinking fountain or the like, comprising an upwardly extending hollow pedestal, a receiver for waste water mounted entirely within said pedestal so as to be substantially con-' cealed thereby, a hollow head supported by said pedestal adjacent its upper end and having a substantially continuous curvilinear surface area of convex configuration providing an upper section curving outwardly and downwardly to an outer location beyond the underlying pedestal and a lower section curving inwardly and downwardly in spaced relation with the upper edge of said pedestal at one position therealong to an inner location within said pedestal and overlying said receiver to carry waste water downwardly into the confines of said pedestal for deposition into said receiver, said head being sufficiently large relative to said pedestal to substantially conceal said receiver therein and having a water discharge opening the upper section of said convex surface, nozzle struct ure located within the hollow interior of said head and oriented to direct water upwardly and outwardly through said opening for discharge onto the upper section of said convex surface. valve structure controlling the discharge of water from said nozzle structure, and said head having a drain opening through which communication is established between the hollow interior of said head and said receiver.

2. The drinking fountain of claim 1 in which said convex surface is a three-dimensional curvilinear surface.

3. The drinking fountain of claim 1 in which said head is a curvilinear geometric solid of generally spherical configuration having a substantially greater circumference at the equator thereof than said pedestal and said receiver mounted therewith tn.

4. The drinking fountain of claim 3 in which said valve structure is manually operable and is supported for the most part within the hollow interior of said head with its control element substantially flush with the surface thereof.

5. The drinking fountain of claim 4 in which said water discharge opening is located in the upper hemisphere of said head offset angularly from the vertical axis thereof. 

1. A drinking fountain or the like, comprising an upwardly extending hollow pedestal, a receiver for waste water mounted entirely within said pedestal so as to be substantially concealed thereby, a hollow head supported by said pedestal adjacent its upper end and having a substantially continuous curvilinear surface area of convex configuration providing an upper section curving outwardly and downwardly to an outer location beyond the underlying pedestal and a lower section curving inwardly and downwardly in spaced relation with the upper edge of said pedestal at one position therealong to an inner location within said pedestal and overlying said receiver to carry waste water downwardly into the confines of said pedestal for deposition into said receiver, said head being sufficiently large relative to said pedestal to substantially conceal said receiver therein and having a water discharge opening along the upper section of said convex surface, nozzle structure located within the hollow interior of said head and oriented to direct water upwardly and outwardly through said opening for discharge onto the upper section of said convex surface, valve structure controlling the discharge of water from said nozzle structure, and said head having a drain opening through which communication is established between the hollow interior of said head and said receiver.
 2. The drinking fountain of claim 1 in which said convex surface is a three-dimensional curvilinear surface.
 3. The drinking fountain of claim 1 in which said head is a curvilinear geometric solid of generally spherical configuration having a substantially greater circumference at the equator thereof than said pedestal and said receiver mounted therewithin.
 4. The drinking fountain of claim 3 in which said valve structure is manually operable and is supported for the most part within the hollow interior of said head with its control element substantially flush with the surface thereof.
 5. The drinking fountain of claim 4 in which said water discharge opening is located in the upper hemisphere of said head offset angularly from the vertical axis thereof. 